Capital Volume 3, Chapter 6: The Effect of Changes in Price

1 Fluctuations in the Price of Raw Material; Their Direct Effects on the Rate of Profit

The following points should be noted at the outset.

We maintain our assumptions here of a constant mass and rate of surplus-value.

Given π = δv/C , any change in the price of raw materials will affect C, and therefore necessarily π, independently of changes in v, s or δ.

Under the heading of ‘raw material’ we also include ancillary materials, machinery insofar as it has its own raw material, such that its price is also affected by fluctuations in the prices of raw materials.